New Marlins Quantrill, Mervis, Hicks shine in impressive win

[Nate Karzmer]

The trio of offseason acquisitions led the way on Saturday night.

Friday night’s series opener between Atlanta and Miami was the first time the Marlins were victims of a blowout loss in the young 2025 season, falling 10-0 to a previously winless Braves team. Bats went cold while the bullpen imploded for seven earned runs following Max Meyer’s departure. Instead of letting the shutout loss snowball, the youth-led Marlins flipped the script from the night before, delivering a shutout of their own and a 4-0 series-tying win.

“So proud of just how they were able to come back and somewhat flush yesterday” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough postgame. “It all kind of started with Cal being able to do what he did and throw five shutout. Really put us in a good position to finish it out today.”

As his manager said, Marlins starter Cal Quantrill rebounded after a tough Marlins debut which saw him go just four innings while allowing six earned runs to cross. The 30-year-old displayed incredible command all night, as evidenced by twelve called strikes—two were strikeouts—and zero walks. Quantrill lived heavily off his fastball, splitter and curveball, combining to throw the three pitches 81% of the time.

“Cal worked really hard in between outings to be more in command with the count, and I think he was really focusing today on getting ahead and then also winning some of those one-one counts, so I thought he did an excellent job of that,” added McCullough.

When it was all said and done, Quantrill only threw 66 pitches before being removed following the fifth inning. Contrary to Friday, Miami’s bullpen was lights out following their starter. Ronny Henriquez, Anthony Veneziano, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender all delivered scoreless appearances facing a treacherous Braves lineup.

The other two-thirds of Miami’s three-headed monster were Matt Mervis and Liam Hicks, both of whom combined to drive in all four runs of the night for their club.

We’ll start with Mervis, who pushed the momentum to the Marlins’ side from the onset with a two-run blast in the top of the first. The roundtripper was Mervis’ first in the bigs since 2023, something that Mervis wanted to get off his back.

“Struggled a little bit last year, didn't hit a home run when I was up and kind of been wanting the first one to just get it out of the way. So it felt good.”

The feeling must’ve been great, because six innings later, needing insurance, Mervis doubled down with a towering 421-foot blast deep into the Atlanta night.

“I had a feeling they were going to go soft. I ambushed the fastball first at bat, didn't get anything hard the second at-bat…and just got the changeup again that stayed over the middle”.

Following Saturday’s power surge, Mervis’ OPS is up to .823 after a rocky first week in Miami.

Finally, Liam Hicks enjoyed a day of many "firsts."

Hicks notched his first career double in the second, a shot high off the brick wall in right field that would’ve been gone in every ballpark in MLB except, you guessed it, Truist Park. He added his first career caught stealing in the third and first career RBI in the fourth, a single to plate Derek Hill.

“We've been touting the at-bat quality since we acquired Liam…He elevated a couple balls to the pull side, he had a nice two-out RBI to left, he got a sac bunt down, so really good offensive (day)” said McCullough.

Coupled with Nick Fortes’ team-leading .972 OPS, the two Marlins catchers have been pleasant surprises a little over a week into 2025.

 

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Of Note

- Fortes was scratched before the game with neck stiffness, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com.

- Xavier Edwards and Graham Pauley added doubles of their own in the first and sixth, respectively.

 

Up Next

Ace Sandy Alcantara looks to lock up the Marlins’ second series win of the season in Sunday afternoon’s rubber match. In 13 career starts against his division rival, Alcantara boasts a 2.94 ERA with 75 strikeouts. Opposing him is Grant Holmes, making his third appearance and second start. First pitch is lined up for 1:35.

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[1993 fan from start]

yes it was first game of the year I had as a must win . and fun to watch  have Cal Quantrill pich and sandy sunday. with phillies at dodgers. got to pick up the games we can in the divison.   i have  this e Derek Hill.not a bat you want to depend on all the time .   Liam Hicks is where  I thought he be for the season .    today is a win you want after yesterday and who pitching

[Miami Italiano]

I had to do a double take and make sure that Quantrill actually pitched 5 scoreless innings.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

I add my puzzlement to Quantrill's early exit, given his pitch count, MLB starter experience, and rather thin bullpen. Are the Marlins concerned about confidence? I'm pleased with his very reasonable acquisition, I just cannot understand this obligatory tentativeness with starters. How will anyone ever stretch, plow through the dreaded third time through the lineup, and upgrade the players' own expectations of what constitutes satisfactory performances for MLB starting pitchers. The "quality start" is a measure of mediocrity. We must return to starters who can pace themselves with a pitching-to-contact strategy, The velocity conundrum (injury proclivity) and five-inning blowout pitch counts are starkly apparent league problems. These are juxtaposed over the multi-generational league BA and BAbip, that are hardly improving. Home runs and strike outs, and that's pretty much it despite offensive rule advantage changes. The NFL realized QB protection was paramount, but baseball experts believe velocity is the only effective pitching quality, despite the injury toll for the sport's pitching talent.